Adventure in Freeform - Take Two

I received a call from one of my local bead stores on Saturday, inviting me to a structural peyote class. I’d been searching for a class for months. Armed with a pound of beads and a ton of questions, I was ready to experiment!


Cathy, our instructor, took a different approach to freeform than much of what I’ve seen and read online. Her method is to weave a peyote band, using delicas and seed beads, along with a few small accent beads. Colors are introduced and a bit of texture is created along the way. Then, the surface of the completed band is embellished with bead embroidery techniques.



I was considering two focals, but neither was quite right for this piece. Chase walked by and stacked them. Perfect! Pressed glass, etched drops, crystals, pearls and bronze fringe complete the embellishments.

I love peyote, and I’d rather do bead embroidery than eat chocolate! And with no pattern to consult, there was nothing to distract from the vintage Neil Young streaming from my iPod. All in all, a great day at the bead table!